This patent specification is in the field of network communication and more specifically in the field of targeting ads and similar material.
Many ads such as banner ads that appear on Internet websites are not targeted to a particular user or even classes of users although it has long been believed that ads targeted as specifically as practical to a particular user are more effective. Such targeting can be based on demographics, some history of an individual, and/or other factors. One proposal for targeting ads is the Double Click system discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,061 and involves compiling information on individuals based on their use of networks such as the Internet. This can create privacy issues where participation is often not disclosed and, in any event, relies on the assumption that past behavior of an individual as reflected in Internet use is a valid predictor of current or future interests of the same individual, as well as the assumption that an individual using a computer currently is the same individual who created the historical data. Another approach is to encourage users to view banner ads by making it possible to click on them and store them in a personal archive for viewing at a later, more convenient time. This approach is illustrated at a website http://www.clicvu.com. According to this ClicVu website, when a user clicks on a banner ad, ClicVu displays a box containing several buttons. Clicking on a xe2x80x9cGo Nowxe2x80x9d button immediately transfers the user to the advertiser, s website. Clicking on a xe2x80x9cGo Laterxe2x80x9d button stores the banner ad so the user can view it at a later, more convenient time. Clicking on a xe2x80x9cVu Adsxe2x80x9d button recalls previously stored banner ads for the user. Clicking on a stored (and recalled) banner ad sends the user to the advertiser""s website. Another proposal, which may not be specific to ads, is discussed in an article xe2x80x9cWill backflip flopxe2x80x9d by Panelope Patsuris found at http://www.forbes.com/tool/htms=I/99dec/1210/feat.htm. According to the article, clicking on a toolbar button of a web browser launches a BackFlip box, and one or two clicks in a pop-up window stores a page in a personal directory on a BackFlip site that the user can access from any computer with a password. The article states that the BackFlip group had a product in beta testing by the end of October 1999. The ClicVu and BackFlip proposals are not admitted to be prior art against this patent specification.
In view of the known state of the art, it is believed that a need remains to make advertising on networks such as the Internet more convenient, more relevant, and less intrusive for the user, more effective for the advertiser, and more practical for the content provider. The system disclosed below is directed to meeting these and other needs.
The term advertiser refers here to the party advertising a product, service, event, or something else. Typically, the advertiser pays for the ad. The term content publisher refers here to the party publishing the website in which the ad is placed. The term user refers here to the party accessing the website and viewing or listening to the ad.
In the preferred embodiments disclosed here, a user who has some interest in the subject matter of a banner ad but does not want to interrupt the current activity to pursue that interest at this time, can click on or otherwise activate a special area of a banner ad and go on with the current activity without being transported to the advertiser""s site. At a later time, not necessarily in the current session of using the computer or Internet-enabled device, the user can recall thumbnail versions of the previously activated ads, or lists or other presentations of the ads, in a format that makes it particularly convenient to review, sort them in various ways, and review not just the information that may have been in the banner ad but also an enhanced version of the banner ad, containing more information and making it easier to act on or transact within the ad. The thumbnail versions can be static images, audio clips or video clips, or interactive rich media using technology such as Macromedia Flash or Enliven that provide facilities for user interaction or transaction within animated images.
Alternatively, within a particular website or within a network of websites, a user can agree ahead of time to receive enhanced versions of banner ads transparently (based on user profiling or other ad targeting methods) that would be available for later review.
The disclosed system provides electronic ad delivery that benefits the advertiser, the content publisher, and the user. The advertiser gets focused attention by users and gains a new advertising channel, the content publisher keeps users longer within its site, and users are rewarded for their attention and need not interrupt their current activity and also do not lose the chance to follow up on, an ad that might be of possible interest. Instead of being distracted by banner ads or just ignoring them (as shown by a typical 1% click-through rate for banner ads), users can gain control over ads they see and hear.
In typical known current electronic advertisement systems, even if a user is interested in a particular banner ad, s/he often skips it to avoid interrupting the current search or other activity by being immediately sent to an advertiser""s site. On the other hand, there may not be a guaranteed way to return to a web page in search for a particular ad that was delivered earlier, as banner ads typically rotate. Thus, a user seeing a banner ad of possible interest may face the Hobson""s choice of unwanted interruptions or possibly never again finding the ad of interest. By allowing users to xe2x80x9cclipxe2x80x9d (or redirect) banners and processing the user input as disclosed below, or by having enhanced versions of banner ads delivered transparently behind the scenes, the new system allows users to focus on their search for information or other current activity and then, at a later time they pick, review not only the banner ads themselves but also thumbnail collections of enhanced versions of those ads, with the opportunity to conveniently browse through the collection of various versions of stored ads and sort and rearrange the enhanced ads for review and action. In some ways, this can provide the user with the type of information that an organized and even annotated group of print catalogs might provide, but the disclosed system achieves it in a much more convenient and effective way and provides additional information as well.
Users may want to return to the storage area often because the ads may contain special limited time offers and discounts. In some cases these ads could be custom-created exclusively for individual users. Because users will be focusing attention on ads and special offers that they have personally selected, the disclosed system is likely to encourage more online shopping and other transactions. In essence, the disclosed system transforms ads into content that users are likely to want to read, listen to, organize, and act upon.
The preferred embodiments disclosed herein: (1) embed an image and/or code or some other notation into banner ads that allow users to recognize and select ads for delivery and storage for later review and action or, alternatively, leave banner ads unchanged and transparently deliver ads for storage and later review and action; (2) transform electronic ads into enhanced ads that contain additional information, such as text, images, interactive rich media, streaming audio or video, or a special discount offer, in a larger layout space than traditional banner ads; (3) deliver enhanced ads to a dedicated network storage area, which is transparent to the user until s/he decides to review this repository (the user preferably has or will establish an account at the storage area); (4) deliver enhanced ads that have a link to another web page or other web pages for more information or to allow the user to purchase the item or otherwise respond; (5) deliver enhanced ads for items in an online auction site related to the subject of the original advertisement into the network storage area; (6) deliver real-time notification of the bid status of multiple items in multiple auctions based on a cooperative tagging of items with participating auction sites into the network storage area; (7) index these enhanced electronic ads and allow users to browse, search, sort, and create sub-groups across these ads within the network storage area; (8) provide that each enhanced ad has an expiration date pre-set by the advertiser or its agent or the operator of the network storage area, and would be automatically deleted from the storage area upon expiration; and (9) allow the option that depending on the advertised product and the advertiser""some enhanced ads can be downloaded and printed for use as a coupon at participating retailers. Other ads may include a voice response trigger that calls customer service representatives to order the product by phone. Particular embodiments may include only some of these features.